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Luis Aparicio was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the first native of South America so honored. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Aparicio came from a baseball family. His father, Luis Sr., was a notable shortstop in Venezuela and owned a Winter League team with Aparicio's uncle, Ernesto.
 Aparicio was heavily scouted by the Cleveland Indians, but Chicago White Sox GM Frank Lane, on the recommendation of fellow Venezuelan shortstop Chico Carrasquel, signed Aparicio for $5,000 down and $5,000 in first year salary. He played well in the minors and then led the American League in stolen bases in his debut year of 1956, winning both the Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards.
Over the next decade, Aparicio set the standard for the spray-hitting, slick-fielding, speedy shortstop. He led the AL in stolen bases in nine consecutive seasons (1956–64) and won the Gold Glove Award nine times (1958–62, 1964, 1966, 1970). He was also a ten-time All-Star (1958–64, 1970–72) and a key player on the 1959 "Go-Go" White Sox that won the American League pennant that year. The White Sox were generally successful during his tenure, but when he showed up overweight and had an off year in 1962, the White Sox dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles the following season.
Aparicio regained his form in Baltimore and was ninth in the MVP balloting in 1966 when he helped the Orioles reach the World Series, which they won. He returned to the White Sox for the 1968 season after being traded for Don Buford and had his best overall offensive season in 1970, hitting .312 and scoring 86 runs. He put in three more seasons with the Boston Red Sox before retiring for good.
Aparicio batted a more than respectable .262 for his career but he also shares the distinction of tying the longest Major League hitless streak for non-pitchers in the last 50 years by going 0 for 44 with the Boston Red Sox in 1971. He batted a career low .232 that year. But even in his last year as an active player in 1973 he rebounded to hit .271 while still playing regularly at age 39. He had 13 consecutive seasons with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and an on-base percentage less than .325, a MLB record. (His career OBP was slightly better than the shortstops' one during those years; .311 vs .309) A more impressive streak was his 16 straight seasons with more than 500 plate appearances, tied for fifth best in MLB history.
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